Continued heavy rain over the upper portions of the Mississippi River Valley caused rises along lower parts of the Mississippi. The Mississippi River sent enough backwater into the lower Ohio River to produce minor flooding at Cairo for the second time this month.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
Continued heavy rain over the upper portions of the Mississippi River Valley caused rises along lower parts of the Mississippi. The Mississippi River sent enough backwater into the lower Ohio River to produce minor flooding at Cairo for the second time this month. The primary impact was to delay spring planting of crops.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 15, 6:36 PM CST, 2 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 736 PM CDT WED APR 15 2009 .UPDATE... UPDATED AVIATION SECTION FOR 00Z TAF PACKAGE. && .DISCUSSION.../ISSUED 258 PM CDT WED APR 15 2009/ THE MAIN FOCUS OF THIS FORECAST DISCUSSION SHIFTS TOWARD THE PROLONGED PRECIPITATION EVENT THIS WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. OF COURSE...FOR THE SHORT TERM...THE MAIN FACTOR FOR TONIGHTS LOWS WILL BE THE DEGREE OF OPAQUE CLOUD COVER IN THE WFO PAH FORECAST AREA...ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMAINING COLD AIR ADVECTION UNDER THE CHANNELED VORTICITY/LIFT ROTATING AROUND THE PERSISTENT COLD CORE UPPER LOW OVER WEST VIRGINIA. THE CLOUD LAYER IS VARY SHALLOW PER ASOS AND SURROUNDING PILOT REPORTS...SO THE CLOUDS SHOULD THIN FAIRLY QUICKLY FROM THE WEST...WITH JUST RESIDUAL PARTLY/MOSTLY CLOUDY SKY COVER LIMITED PART OF SWRN IN/NWRN KY FOR TONIGHT. A SLOW...BUT STEADY RISE OF TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AS SURFACE WIND FLOW SLOWLY TURNS FROM NORTHWEST TO EAST-NORTHEAST THURSDAY...THEN SOUTHEAST FRIDAY. THIS SHIFT IN WINDS IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE VEERING FLOW DUE TO THE APPROACHING SURFACE/UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. A 3-5 DEGREE RISE FROM TODAYS HIGHS CAN BE EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...WITH ANOTHER 5-7 DEGREE RISE ON FRIDAY. THIS TREND IS WORKING BACK TOWARD PREVIOUSLY FORECAST HIGHS ON FRIDAY IN THE 70S. PREVIOUSLY FORECAST TIMING ON THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION CHANCES LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY OVER SERN MO STILL LOOKS GOOD...AS THE ECMWF AND GFS REMAIN FAIRLY CONSISTENT ON THE APPROACH OF QPF FROM THE SOUTHWEST BY 12Z SATURDAY. IN COMPARISON TO THE GEFS ENSEMBLES...THERE IS DEFINITELY A WOBBLE BETWEEN THE DETERMINISTIC /OPERATIONAL/ 00Z ECMWF AND 12 GFS GUIDANCE HEIGHT/LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURE FIELDS. OVERALL...THE ECMWF REMAINED ON A SLIGHTLY COLDER /0 TO 2 DEGREES BELOW/...WITH THE GFS SLIGHTLY WARMER / 0 TO 3 DEGREES /ABOVE THE ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE...REFLECTING THE MORE SOUTHERN /ECMWF/ AND NORTHERN /GFS/ TRACKS OF THE UPPER CLOSED LOW FROM THE WESTERN TO EASTERN 1/2 OF THE U.S. FOR NOW...ATTEMPTED TO ADJUST WEATHER/POP/TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE VALUES FROM THE ECMWF SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE GEFS CONSENSUS FIELDS...LEANING TOWARD A MORE ZONAL TRACK OF THE CLOSED LOW FROM WEST TO EAST. WITH THAT IN MIND...THE FORECAST HAS SHIFTED TOWARD A SLOWER...WETTER AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER SOLUTION FOR SATURDAY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IN THE EXTENDED PACKAGE FROM TUESDAYS PACKAGE WAS THE OVERALL INCREASED CONFIDENCE OF KEEPING A MENTION OF SHOWERS IN THE WFO PAH FORECAST AREA THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY...AS THE MEAN TROUGH DOES NOT WORK EAST OF THE AREA UNTIL LATE NEXT TUESDAY. THIS SLOWER AND WETTER SOLUTION IS IN LINE WITH THE PREVIOUSLY WETTER FORECAST SOLUTION UTILIZED BY WFO IND YESTERDAY. I MAY BE THE OUTLIER IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD...BUT SUCH LARGE MERIDIONAL TROUGH/RIDGE PATTERNS DO NOT TRANSLATE EASTWARD VERY FAST. IN FACT...OVERALL SYSTEM EASTWARD MOTION OF THESE SYSTEMS DO NOT NORMALLY TRANSLATE FASTER THAN 15KTS. && .AVIATION... VFR CIGS AND VSBYS CAN BE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT AT KEVV AND KOWB...WITH BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CIGS. KPAH WILL HAVE VFR CIGS AND VSBYS OVERNIGHT. KCGI WILL HAVE CLEAR SKIES...AND 4SM BR POSSIBLE FROM 08Z TO 12Z. WINDS ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE FROM THE NORTHEAST AROUND 5KTS OR LESS. AFTER 13Z...WINDS WILL BE FROM THE NORTHEAST TO EAST AT 5 TO 10KTS...WITH SCT-BKN050 CLOUDS EXPECTED. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && AVIATION...RST SHORT/LONG TERM...SMITH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 827 AM CDT WED APR 15 2009 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-161330- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 827 AM CDT WED APR 15 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MINOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE LITTLE WABASH RIVER AT CARMI...THE WABASH RIVER AT NEW HARMONY...THE OHIO RIVER AT CAIRO...AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT CAPE GIRARDEAU. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD EAST OVER THE QUAD STATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME...THE PRIMARY CONCERN IS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. MINOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE LITTLE WABASH RIVER AT CARMI...THE WABASH RIVER AT NEW HARMONY...THE OHIO RIVER AT CAIRO...AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT CAPE GIRARDEAU. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. JAP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
At the Cairo river gage, the Ohio River crested at 40.85 feet on the 16th. This was just inches above the flood stage of 40 feet. Minor flooding occurred, affecting low-lying bottomland fields.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 160097.